Stone Farm with its beautiful setting attracts many people wanting to enjoy the outdoors. Stone Farm is owned by the BMC for the benefit of climbers and it situated on open access land. It is a Site of Scientific Interest.
In the above photo, this group of boys were innocently enjoying the sunny weekend by having a BBQ at the top of the crag. They genuinely had no idea about the no BBQ rule and the impact a hot BBQ can have on the fragile surface of the rock. It wasn't until they were told by a HRMG member that BBQ's were not allowed, that they realised their mistake.
The BMC owned crag does have a sign at the entrance to the crag which states "remove litter and do not light fires" along with a lot of other rules. The location of this sign is only visible if you enter the path to the crag on the left of the bridleway, but we found that many visitors would approach the upper crag by continuing to walk up the bridleway and therefore missing the signage altogether.
Would a relocation of the main signage or additional signage be more beneficial to deter the BBQ issue? This would then enable all visitors to the rocks the chance to view the signage as they approach. Also perhaps additional "No BBQ's or Fire's" signs located at key points along the crag, like there are currently at Harrison's Rocks. A new No BBQ sign will be put up by the HRMG soon, but more than one sign may be needed.